COMMERCIAL

Otago Witness, Issue 1851, 17 August 1893, Page 23

COMMERCIAL

Messrs Donald Reid and Co. report having held a clearing sale at Lochend dairy farm; Anderson's Bay, on Thursday, 10th August, on account of the trustees in the estate of the late Mr William Sanderson, when they offered and disposed > of the superior herd of dairy cows, young Btock, horses, and implements, &o. belonging to the estate. There was a very large attendance of -dairy farmers, dealers, and others, and the sale being a genuine, unreserved one, and the stock wtll known and appreciated in the district, bidding was brisk and well sustained throughout, every lot offered finding purchasers at flill.market rates. Dairy cows sold up to £8 12s 6d, yearlings to £2 Bs, horses up to £21 10s, crops, harness, implements, &c, all being disposed of at satisfactor ice» '

Tory prices. - - . ' Dornbusch, of 23rd June, reports upon] crop prospects as follows :—"We - are probably approaching the end of the extraordinary draught ia Europe. Beneficial rains fell last night in London, and in various parts of the country some rain has fallen ia the past few days. Heavy thunderstorms are also reported from Austria. The wheat crop in England has come along rapidly under the | effects of the forcing heat of the past fortnight, i and an extraordinarily early harvest is now all but certain. Most of our correspondents look for wheat cutting to take place two or three weekß earlier than the average. Barley, and especially oats, have suffered seriously from the drought, whilst hay in the south of England is quite lost. In the north of England however, the condition of the hay and clover crops is not so bad, sonic goods fields having been cut. In Frapce, according to our latest news, the reports are still unsatisfactory, by no means sufficient rain haying fallen for the spring corn, whilst wheat will yield very poorly on light soils. Rye is not expected to yield well, although the" quality is good. Barley and. oats are of course suffering mos,t from the drought. In Belgium and Holland the winter crops are not unfavourably spoken -of, but all other crops leave much to desire owing to the prolonged drought. In Germany the wheat crop is described by our correspondents as fair ; rye rather deficient in some parts ; barley^ poor ; oats very poor. The scarcity of oats and of fodder has led to the price of oats being 13m. higher than 1 that of wheat, which is quite an extraordinary phenomenon. In Hungary copious rains have greatly improved the outlook in respect to spring corn and fodder, whilst wheat and' rye have also been improved. The latest official report on the crops in Austria states that wheat has improved, and may prove a good medium crop. Rye, however, does not promise well, whilst barley and oats have been saved by the recent rains. The harveat in Italy is about to commence, being earlier than usual, and the yield of wheat is likely to be better than had been expected. The Spanish wheat crop, too, seems now likely to be rather above an average. In Roumania the continued heavy rains havo caused considerable damage to the crops, which, moreover, have been sown to a smaller acreage .than last yea*. The Russian crops have experienced a vast improvement, according to the latest official accounts, which represent that over 80 per cent, of the districts from which returns are received are good and satisfactory in respect to wheat, both winter and spring. Messrs W. Rehtz and Co. (Brisbane) report, under date July 27, as follows :— " Most lines in produce have moved well. Maize continues scarce— price is at 43 Id to 4s 2d for shipping orders: inferior qualities, 3' 9d to 3a lid per bushel. Potatoes : Circular Heads (for seed purposes) have gone up to £7 and £7 .10s per ton; Queensland are very scarce— for best lots £5 10s to £6 5s per ton is obtainable. Before long potatoes will require to be imported from New Zealand and Tasmania to meet the demand. ' Onions in very short supply, £5 17 sod to £$ 10* per ton. Oats have had to be imported in considerable quantities from the southern colonies ; seed. 3s lid to 4s ; feed, 3s 8d to 3s lOd per bushel. Chickwheat, scarce, and worth 3s od to 3s 8J ncr bushel. Chaff : Oaten (imported), £5 15s to £6"10s ; Queensland, £4 10s to£s2s 6d per ton. Bran (firm), £5 5s to £5 10s per ton. Pollard, £5 7s (id to £5 15a per ton. Butter : Prime table. Is Id to Is sid according to quality ; inferior, 6d to lOd per Ib. Bacon, 3d to 7d per lb. Eggs, 9d to Hid per dozen. Cheese : Local, 3d to fid psr lb, dull of <>ale ; New Zealand, 9d to lid per lb. , The London correspondent of the S. M. Herald, writing on June 30, reports of the wool sales :■— "The enormous supply of crossbred has been eagerly taken up at the opening rates, but the Sast two or three sales have been hardly so firm, bough one cannot quote a decided drop in values. It ia, however, apparent here and there, mo-e especially in the fine short parcels, such as Americans have been in the habit of taking, half of the toial offered to date has been'JSew Zealand produce, and prices compare favourably with this time last year for crossbreqs.' .1 cannqt i say that prices made for New Zealand merino are satisfactory though, and the Cape importers are hardly offering at all, being disgusted. w^th present rates for short parcels. It is a wearisome story to tell of prices being admittedly lpw, and yet nobody seems to have confidence in the future, I hardly think this can last much longer; I As a result of last season's ,operaUons the directors of the Mataura Dairy Factory Company are able to recommend the payment of a dividend., t of '8 ppr cent, after writing off nearly £50 for depreciation. •,-,„>. ™ ' Sydney, August 15.— Potatoos : Local, £5 10s; Circular Heads, £6 10s. The following is the number of bags of grain and produce received at the Dunedin railway, stations during the week .— • Bar-Pota- Pro- • Wheat. Oats. Bran. ley. toes. duca.. Tl Friday ... 18 SJO - - 164 83 810 SaturLy...l6o 143 - - 153 £0 4W Monday ... 20 7o - - j ™\ 828 'lWsdav 214 — — 150 Ho 47" WcdSaylOO 250 - - 96 93 639